Munster Had To Take An Emergency Trip To Woodies Ahead Of Castres Game

Waterlogged.

Munster’s final pool game against Castres on Sunday ran into a bit of difficulty, with referee Ben Whitehouse forced to delay kick-off for three hours, such was the condition of the pitch.

The hugely anticipated clash was slated to kick-off at 1pm, but didn’t go ahead until 4pm. Those involved in getting the pitch playable did an incredible job, with almost no evidence left once they teams finally took to the field.

But how did they do it? It turns out Thomond Park Stadium Director John Cantwell was forced to undertake an emergency trip to Woodies for 20 pitchforks to work on the pitch.

“Once it stopped raining we had to get as many people working the pitch as possible to drain it. So along with Conor Norris and his grounds team, we brought in an army of other people like plumbers,

“I went over to Woodies and bought 20 pitchforks (at €20 each) around noon so those extra people could use them to work on the pitch.”

“The break in the weather and the incredible work of our staff in draining the pitch ensured we made the 4pm start.

“The safety of players was the most important thing for us and that is why the game was pushed back to that time. The patience of our supporters was fantastic also and it was wonderful to see the vast numbers that stayed there for the extra couple of hours.”